La Nueva Patrulla 15

La Nueva Patrulla 15 emerged as a merengue ensemble in the wake of the 1997 dissolution of Jossie Esteban y la Patrulla 15, the Dominican act that dominated airwaves across the 1980s and 1990s. Jossie Esteban—born Esteban Grullón—and pianist Alberto Martínez, known professionally as Ringo, launched the original lineup in the Dominican Republic in 1979. Over the next eighteen years the pair guided the ensemble through successive recording contracts with Gema Records (1979-1981), Artomax Records (1982-1983), TTH Records (1984-1992), and Platano (1993-1997). The group’s popularity also produced two notable offshoots: the all-female Las Nenas de Ringo y Jossie, whose early roster included Olga Tañón before her emergence as a solo superstar, and the male vocal quintet Caña Brava. When the long-standing creative alliance between Esteban and Martínez ended in 1997, Jossie Esteban y la Patrulla 15 ceased to exist. Esteban pursued an independent path, while Martínez remained active as a pianist, arranger, and producer, contributing to projects by Adán Cañuelas and Alex el Bizcochito. Martínez subsequently joined forces with a former member of Sabrosos del Merengue to establish La Nueva Patrulla 15, which issued the albums Ahora e' Que, Que, Que, Eh (2002), Más Allá... (2004), and Cantando Arnaldo Vallellanes (2008).